Chapter 5

"Hey, where did you learn such poetic words? Does the teacher at the official school still teach this?"

Fifth Lun thought his bold words would earn his grandfather's praise, but in the end, he received a rap on the head, which hurt his skull and sobered him up instantly.

Fifth Ba, though he appeared rough, was actually very meticulous, having lived for so many years: "What about after the response? So many people need to eat, right?"

"Who will feed three thousand able-bodied men? You? As the saying goes, before the troops move, the provisions must be ready. The grain stored in our house isn't even enough for our own people. You, a mere child, clearly haven't been in a war and think it's too simple to gather a crowd."

After being ridiculed by the old man, Fifth Lun was a bit不服 (unconvinced). The next day, he got up early and, with his servant Fifth Fu, began to inventory the grain stored by the Fifth family.

Due to Wang Mang's complicated economic policies, the monetary system was in chaos. In the county town, Fifth Lun saw that while the government still insisted on using various new currencies to pay salaries, the people had almost returned to a barter system. In this era, the only hard currency was grain!

The Fifth family's granary was in the back yard, taking up a considerable area, with a four-sloped roof and two windows under the eaves for ventilation. Inside, large earthen jars were lined up, covered with thick wooden lids, filled with unhusked millet and wheat.

Fifth Fu's father, named Fifth Ge, was in charge of managing the estate's farmland and grain. He told Fifth Lun, "Young Master, we just collected the land rent this month, and all five granaries are full, with about a thousand dan of grain."

Including vegetables and fruits for side dishes, it was enough to feed the fifty-odd people in the Fifth family's compound, from the masters to the servants and slaves, for two years. This proved that the Fifth family was good at managing, unlike some families that ate and drank without planning and often had no surplus grain.

But it was still far from Fifth Lun's goal, about ten times less.

In Fifth Lun's view, their family needed to store at least ten thousand dan of grain.

When he proposed this plan to Fifth Ba, he was laughed at again by the old man.

"Ten thousand dan? Do you know how much grain the county granary stores? It's about this much. Our Fifth family, with just one village, has limited annual harvests. Where can we get so much grain?"

Fifth Ge, who managed the granary, didn't know why the young master wanted to stockpile grain, but this was a good opportunity to propose a plan he had been thinking about for a long time: "We can't stockpile so much grain in the short term, unless..."

Fifth Ge's words were cold and straightforward.

"Raise the rent!"

...

"The land rent in other powerful families in this village is mostly one part out of ten. But the Fifth family has always cared for its clan members. For clan members who work the land, we take two parts out of ten, and for ordinary tenant farmers, we take three parts out of ten."

Fifth Ge still thought it was insufficient. He believed that with grain prices rising in recent years, the land rent should be increased.

"By doing so, we can collect an additional three to five hundred dan of land rent each year."

When Fifth Lun first arrived in this era, he found it strange that the land tax in the Xin Dynasty was one part out of ten, and in the Han Dynasty, it was even one part out of thirty. Why would so many people prefer to sell their land and become tenant farmers of powerful families rather than be self-cultivating farmers paying taxes to the government?

Later, he understood that the so-called one part out of thirty or one part out of ten was just a nice-sounding figure. More deadly than the land tax were the corvée labor and additional taxes. During the Han Dynasty, serving corvée labor in the Western Regions or the Southwest Barbarians could take several years, and it was easy to fall ill and die on the way. Military merit was also far from certain. The Xin Dynasty was even worse, engaging in wars on all fronts and losing more often than winning. No one wanted to go to their death.

The most terrifying was the additional tax. The government's tax increases were irregular and only accepted money, not grain. Farmers had to sell their grain in the market, where they were exploited again by merchants or the government. If they couldn't gather enough, to avoid being arrested and becoming convicts, they had to borrow money. High-interest loans were a bottomless pit, with interest rolling over and growing larger. After a few years, they couldn't survive and had to sell their land and themselves, joining powerful families.

But the Fifth family had no connections in the court, and the head of the family had to serve and pay taxes, let alone act as a protector. Therefore, their appeal to landless farmers was limited, and most of their land was acquired through the gradual annexation of other surnames in the village.

"No, the land rent must not be increased."

Fifth Lun shook his head in opposition. Tenant farmers and poor clan members who rented land worked hard all year, but their earnings were barely enough to survive.

Moreover, such a short-sighted act would make the Fifth family lose something more important than grain: the hearts of the people.

"The grain issue is not urgent; let me think of a way slowly."

Fifth Lun mentioned something he noticed during his morning inspection of the granary: "I saw that there are many leftover iron farming tools and a few extra oxen in the barn."

Powerful families accumulated wealth through exploitation. If it were the early Han Dynasty, they would continue to annex and buy land. But with the Xin Dynasty's land restrictions, they couldn't buy land openly. Since the scale of land was fixed, they used the surplus grain to buy oxen and iron tools, focusing on intensive farming.

But ordinary farmers didn't have this option.

"Yesterday, when I returned, I saw some people already preparing to plow the land for winter wheat. Because they had no oxen, they had to plow in pairs."

Couple plowing meant one person pulling the rope and another guiding the plow. However, there was an agricultural proverb: "Plow deep in autumn, shallow in spring and summer." Planting winter wheat required deep plowing, and poor farmers had to work hard under the scorching sun, pulling the plow with great difficulty.

Worse still, Fifth Lun saw that many people's plow blades were made of wood or stone!

This surprised him: "Isn't it said that the Qin and Han Dynasties were the Iron Age? How can people still be using tools from the primitive society?"

This was due to Wang Mang's new policies. The Xin Dynasty, emulating Emperor Wu of Han, implemented the "Five Equalities and Six Monopolies," which required that six commodities, including salt, iron, and wine, be exclusively operated by the government. Private mining and selling were illegal.

The intention might have been to strike against powerful families controlling mines and private salt, but no matter how good the intention, it had to be implemented by people. A good idea, when implemented, became a bad policy, causing much trouble for the people. The government's iron tools were crude and difficult to use, and iron tools became increasingly expensive. After ten years, many people were forced to use stone and wood. Using production methods from a thousand years ago, it was a miracle if productivity didn't plummet.

Fifth Lun, seeing this, was quite moved. He then proposed: "Grandfather, when planting winter wheat this autumn, can the clan lend our surplus iron tools and oxen to the poor clan members in the village?"

"Little Master!"

Fifth Ba hadn't responded, but Fifth Ge, who managed the clan's agricultural affairs, called out first.

"Though they are mostly clan members, they are self-cultivating farmers who don't rent our land. Even if they have a good harvest, they won't pay us land rent. Why should we care about them?"

"Moreover, though we have more oxen, using them too frequently will tire and weaken them. The same goes for iron tools; they can easily break during deep plowing. Renting them out would be a loss, let alone lending them for free!"

Is the young master really a spendthrift, as the old head of the family scolded yesterday?

Through yesterday's incident, Fifth Ba saw clearly that his grandson had a deep strategy behind his seemingly soft-hearted actions. He stopped the clan members and asked Fifth Lun, "Speak, what is your plan?"

Fifth Lun said, "I just want to help the families finish their autumn plowing and planting wheat faster by lending them oxen and iron tools."

There is a poem from the Spring and Autumn period, "July," which sings: "In the first month, we hunt foxes for the prince's fur... In the third month, we repair the plow, in the fourth month, we start plowing, in August, we harvest jujubes, in October, we harvest rice, and we make spring wine."

From January to December, farmers are busy all year round. Despite the changes from feudal states to commanderies and counties over hundreds of years, their lives have not fundamentally changed, and they have become even harder—more people, less land per person, and they must work diligently to survive.

In the past, they could rest a bit after the autumn harvest, but after Emperor Wu of Han promoted winter wheat, along with vegetables and beans, they had work in the autumn and winter, almost without a break.

By lending the clan's surplus oxen and iron plows, Fifth Lun could indeed help the self-cultivating farmers in the village complete their autumn work faster.

"Why let them idle, basking in the sun?" Fifth Ba, though the head of the family, had no sympathy for distant clan members and was more concerned with the family's interests.

"Of course not."

Fifth Lun, though compassionate, also wanted to win the hearts of the clan members and, during their idle time, organize them to do something significant. If he couldn't unite even a single village, how could he expect to rally the surrounding areas?

He said, "At that time, I want to ask Grandfather and the village head to organize the villagers. Our family will provide the money and grain to rebuild the village shrine!"

...

"The village shrine?"

The village shrine was for worshipping the land god and was also a place for the villagers to celebrate. On the day of the shrine festival, everyone would gather to drink. On that day, drinking was not only acceptable but also mandatory, and by evening, every household would have drunk people returning home.

However, since the Xin Dynasty established the "Five Equalities and Six Monopolies" ten years ago, alcohol could only be sold by the government, making it extremely expensive. Even private alcohol was several times more expensive. Ordinary people couldn't afford it and could only secretly brew a little bitter wine at home.

Secondly, the Xin Dynasty, emulating the Zhou Dynasty, punished those who gathered to drink, with penalties for groups of five or more. The villagers lost a day of fun and release, and the village shrine became much quieter, falling into disrepair for a long time.

In Fifth Lun's view, a place that could gather all the villagers and strengthen their cohesion through rituals should not be idle. Even without alcohol, many things could be done.

For example, a long street feast could be organized, inviting everyone to enjoy a rare hearty meal. Fifth Ba could perform sword skills to win the admiration of the boys. The village elders could tell stories, recounting the Fifth family's arduous journey from the east two hundred years ago and the legendary and tragic lives of their ancestors, the Tian brothers. This would strengthen the villagers' sense of belonging.

Fifth Lun, in his previous life, was from the south and was familiar with the southern clan culture. Although clan rules and village regulations were criticized as "dross" in the new century, in a specific era, they could be transformed into valuable resources to help him survive in troubled times.

The Han Dynasty's unification brought peace, and families could live together and multiply in stability. But they were still in the early stages of development and were far from the well-established systems of later times.

Fifth Lun brought the southern clan culture to this place. He planned to build a school next to the village shrine, where children of the village could learn to read and do arithmetic—no need to read the Five Classics, which wasted time. For older children, Fifth Lun could personally teach them more useful knowledge, hoping to cultivate some talents in the village.

He could also build a granary to provide relief to extremely poor clan members and neighbors, to ease the wealth gap within the village.

With these benefits, he could win the hearts of the villagers and, under the pretext of preventing bandits, organize them to train in military formations during their idle time, ensuring they would follow his orders.

Fifth Lun had considered: "Now, Guanzhong seems peaceful, and even my grandfather doesn't believe there will be chaos. If I start training the clan members, the government will suspect us, and the villagers won't be willing. People prefer ease to labor; they will lie down if they can. I can only win their hearts and interests gradually."

Thinking about it, there were so many things to do, much more interesting than studying at the Imperial Academy.

Fifth Ba, however, pointed out the contradiction in Fifth Lun's plan: "Lun, on one hand, you want to do these purely costly things."

"On the other hand, you want to store ten thousand dan of grain."

"It's like your head wants to go north while your body goes south. Isn't that absurd?"

"Grandfather, you are right." Fifth Lun scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. Indeed, it was a contradiction. Doing these things would cost a lot, but there would be no increase in income. If this continued, even the landlord would run out of grain.

"It seems I need to find a way to increase our grain supply."

...

The next day, Fifth Lun went to the blacksmith's shop next to the compound. He heard the sound of hammering even before he entered.

The blacksmith was named Qiu Gaonu. He was not a member of the Fifth family but a tenant who had come from the Shang Commandery and knew how to forge iron. Later, he gained his freedom, married a Fifth family woman, and Fifth Ba allowed him to open a small blacksmith shop in the family compound, specializing in repairing farm tools.

"Little Master."

Seeing Fifth Lun, Qiu Gaonu, wearing a leather apron, quickly put down his hammer and accompanied Fifth Lun on a tour of the small blacksmith shop, then asked a question.

"I heard the old head of the family was kind enough to allow the villagers to borrow the compound's oxen and plows. Is that true?"

Fifth Ba, though he had scolded Fifth Lun the day before, still announced the plan to lend oxen and iron tools, winning the cheers of the entire village. He also instructed Qiu Gaonu to repair the iron plows and distribute them to the households.

"Of course, it's true." Fifth Lun looked at Qiu Gaonu, whose face, always exposed to the fire, was always ruddy.

"Since that's the case, my brother is from another surname. Can he also borrow the oxen?"

After Qiu Gaonu settled in the Fifth village, his brother's family also came to seek refuge, becoming one of the few outsiders in the village.

Fifth Lun didn't want to engage in clan politics, which was too petty. Treating everyone equally, regardless of surname, would attract more people.

"Of course, but with so many households borrowing, we need a fair way to decide the order..."

That would be, drawing lots!

If the order were decided by closeness, the compound's threshold would be worn down by relatives seeking favors. It was better to let everyone rely on their luck, which would save a lot of trouble.

However, Fifth Lun's visit to the blacksmith shop today was for another reason.

After a tour, Fifth Lun saw that Qiu Gaonu's skills were good, and he was versatile, able to do some carpentry in addition to forging iron. This was excellent.

Fifth Lun touched a newly repaired iron shovel: "And... do you have any extra iron?"

...

PS: I recommend a new book, "The Immortal of the Aztecs." I've wanted to recommend it for a long time but kept putting it off. It's about the Age of Exploration, where the protagonist travels to America and leads the indigenous people to resist the Europeans. It's a niche topic but very well-written. If you're interested, give it a try.